Information about deaths was obtained from the Registrar General in Scotland, death certificates and GP/hospital records.

Results

There were more RA patients in the deprived areas then expected compared with the West of Scotland and England and Wales.

Some 47.5% of the RA patients had died by 12 years-the majority of cardiorespiratory causes or malignancy.

There were no differences in the median age or disease duration in the various Carstairs groups at study entry, but the percentage of deaths was higher in the more deprived groups after 12 years (36% dead in most affluent area compared with 61% in the most deprived, that is, in groups 6 and 7).